SURVEY SCAM - Free $1000 Gift Card From Kmart

Outline

Brief Analysis

The message is a scam designed to trick you into sharing the fake offer on Facebook, and filling out bogus surveys.

Example

Claim your free $1000 Kmart Gift Card Today (90 left)

For Limited Time Kmart is Giving Away Free Gift Cards to its Loyal Customers.

Detailed Analysis

Message Says You Can Get a $1000 Kmart Gift Card

A message that has been posted to various Facebook news feeds asks you to follow a link to get a $1000 Kmart gift card for free. The offer contains an image of the Kmart logo as well as a counter telling you how many gift cards are left.

Offer is a Scam - The Gift Cards are Not Real

The message is a scam. The gift cards are just a trick to get the user to click a link and share the scam on Facebook. The gift cards are not real and the offer is not part of any official Kmart giveaway.

Upon clicking the link in the message, the user will be taken to a fake Facebook Page and told to share the material, like a Facebook Page, and paste a promotional message to six different Facebook Groups.

However, after you have finished these steps, you will still not be able to claim any kind of gift cards. Instead, you will be told that you must fill out a survey as part of the entry conditions. A message will pop-up on screen with links to multiple surveys.

The surveys will try to trick you into providing your personal information. This information may then be used to blast you with marketing emails, surface mail, and phone calls. You may also be tricked into subscribing to expensive SMS services.

The scammer who created the fake promotion will earn money via suspect affiliate marketing schemes each time a user participates in a survey.

But, even after participating in the surveys, you will still not get the promised Kmart gift card, which never existed to begin with.

Some versions of the scam may also try to trick you into installing rogue Facebook applications or downloading malicious software.

Be Careful of Posts Offering Free Gift Cards or Prizes

Fake promotions like this are very common on Facebook. Scammers use the idea of fake gift cards and vouchers to lure users to click links and participate in surveys.

Be careful of any Facebook post that claims that you can get gift cards, vouchers, or any other prizes for just sharing a message and participating in surveys.

Last updated: August 26, 2014
First published: August 26, 2014
By Cameron C. ChristensenAbout Hoax-Slayer